California Crushes 3.58 Million Tons of Wine Grapes in 2010

The California Agricultural Statistics released the preliminary crush report at noon today, which shows a total of 3.58 million tons of wine grapes were crushed.

The California Agricultural Statistics released the preliminary crush report at noon today, which shows a total of 3.58 million tons of wine grapes were crushed. That figure is less than was crushed in 2009 but came in significantly higher than industry experts had projected.

CASS said the total crush including raisins was 3,980,229 tons, down 3 percent from the 2009 crush of 4,095,297 tons. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 2,047,766 tons, down 1 percent from 2009. The 2010 white wine variety crush totaled 1,535,133 tons, down 6 percent from 2009. 

The 2010 average price of all varieties was $543.03, down 5 percent from 2009. Average prices for the red wine grapes were $625.19, down 7 percent from 2009; for white wine grapes, $500.37, down 7 percent from 2009.

The report is now online at this link. We’ll have continuing coverage later today.